Machine for sizing tiles.



G. A. STANBERY.

MACHINE FOR SIZING TILES.

APPLlcATloN FILED 1AH.5, |905.

LZlO?, Patented Jan. 2, 1917'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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MACHINE FOR SIZING TILES.

APPLICATION HLED 1AN.5. 1905.

L21 ,55% Patented Jau. 2, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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GEORGE A. STANBERY, F ZANESVILLE, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO ANERICAN ENCAUSTICTILING CO., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., .A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MACHENE FOR SIZING TILES.

Application filed January 5, 1605.

To ZZ ywho/m t may concern .Be it known that I, GEORGE A. STANBERY, acitizen ogt' the `United States, residing at Zanesville, in the countyor" Muskingum and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines tor Sizing Tiles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to machines for ascertaining the sizes of tiles, inorder that they may be assorted accurately and quickly according totheir sizes.

In the manufacture of tiles of any size, say of six inches in length, itis found that they vary in length after leaving the kiln, some ot thembeing a fraction of an inch shorter, while others are larger infractions oi an inch, than the standard gage. It is customary to assorttiles which vary a l thirty-second of an inch, more or less from,

the standard gage into different groups or piles; and said tiles aredistinguished in the trade by appropriate characters or designations,according to their variations from the standard gage.

'.lhe machine 0f the present invention may be operated easily andquickly for the purpose of accurately ascertainingr the grade accordingto size, or the length, of the tiles, and to enable the attendant toassort all the tiles or the different graduations of sizes of tiles intoseparate groups or piles.

lily machine. also, makes provision 'for the measurement of tiles oieditferentlengths, sav from one or more inches up 'to eight, ten or moreinches, each of the standard lengths or tiles, and the graduated tilesof such standard lengths, being measured and assorted accuratelyaccording to the classes thereof. Y

The machine is constructed to compensate for wear in it-s severalworking parts, thus insuring accuracy in the performance of its work.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thecourse of the subjoined description, and the actual scope ot theyinvention will be defined by the anneXed claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis speciication, wherein like characters of reference are used toindicate corresponding parts in all the iigures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a ma- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1193i?.

serial no. 239,816.

chine for sizing tiles, constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation, illustrating the employment of meansfor accurately positioning an adjustable but normally stationary member,the latter being adapted to copera-te with a movable member indetermining the length of a tile. Fig. 3 is a plan view, omitting thecasing or housing and showing several working parts of the machine. Fig.et is a detail view inend elevation, partly broken away and in section,showing the application of the adjusting device to the bed plate. Fig. 5is a` View partly in section, and partlv in side elevation, lookingtoward the indicator device and the movable member, that is adapted tocooperate with the relatively fixed member. Fig. 6 is a longitudinalsectional elevation taken in the plane indicated by the dotted line 6 6of Fig. 3, and Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section on the line 7 7of Fig. 3.

The base A of the machine is shown by the drawings as being`substantially l.- shaped, but it will be understood that the shape isimmaterial and may be modiiied or changed at pleasure. One arm of thebase is provided with a longitudinal guideway a, which may be eitherdovetailed or T-shaped in cross section, as shown by Fig. 4, and on theopposite sides of this guideway are provided the wear plates Z9, thelatter being fastened removably to the base by any suitable means, suchfor example as the` screwsfb.

My machine includes in its construction two cooperating members B, C,between which the tile is adapted to be placed in the operation ofgaging the same, the member B being a relatively stationary part,although it is capable of adjustment on the base, while the member C isa movable part which is shifted at will away from the member B.

As herein shown, the member B is in the form of a head having adovetailed or T- shaped shank, arranged to lit snugly in the able screwsb4. It is evident that the screws may be removed and the Wear plate b3reversed in position on the head, or this Wear plate may be replaced byanother plate when it is Worn. In alike manner the plates Z) may beremoved from the base A and yreversed in position thereon, or saidplates may be throvvn aside and others substituted therefor, thus makingprovision for taking up the Wear in some of the parts of the machine.

The movable member C is represented in the form of a plunger adaptednormally for slidable movement toward and from the member B. Saidplunger C is shown as of cylindrical form, but it will be understoodthat a square or polygonal plunger may be used, hence I do not desire toconiine myself to said cylindrical form lof plunger. Said member C issupported in a boxing Vor housing D, Which is secured in a suitable Wayto the bed A. The boxing is provided with a longitudinal chamber inWhich the plunger C is snugly fitted, and said boxing is provided ino-ne side With a notch or recess d, the purpose of which Will presentlyappear. The plunger is provided at its respective ends vvith collars c,c, adapted to limit the endwise movement of the plunger in the boxing,and at its Working end said plunger has a gage pin o2, Which is clampedremovably to the plunger by a set screw c3. rlhe plunger is drawn orimpelled normally in one direction by a spring E, Fig. 5, which isarranged Within a chamber e, in the under side of the bed A, one end ofsaid spring being anchored in place in a suitable Way. The other end ofthe spring is attached to an arm e', which is made in one piece with thecollar c', thus connecting the spring with the rear end of the plunger,said arm e being arranged to Work in a slot e2, which is provided in thebed A, see Fig. 3.

The plunger is adapted to be dravvnback or retracted at Will by theemployment of a suitable operating device, Which is herein shown as alever F, the latter being arranged in the chamber e, and projecting atits respective ends through slots in the chambered part of the bedplate, one of said slots being indicated at 7, in Figs. l and 2. One endof the lever is fulcrumed on a short post that depends from a bracketplate f, secured to a side portion of the bed, While the free end of thelever extends beyond that side of the machine on which the operator isstationed, thus placing the lever Within convenient reach of theoperator. The arm e of the plunger is arranged in the path of the leverF vvhen it is moved in one direction, but this lever may be moved freelyin an opposite direction Without engaging with said arm e', whereby thelever When moved to the right Will Withdraw the plunger C away from themember .B, but the movement of the lever F toward the left Will notaffect said plunger, thus permitting the spring E to act on said plungerin moving it toward the head B. It Will be understood, therefore, thatthe spring E and the lever F operate independently on the plunger tocontrol the same, the spring E moving the plunger in one direction,While the lever F operates to move the plunger in an opposite direction.This construction and arrangement of parts not only provides for holdingthe plunger normally in position and for the convenient Withdrawal ofthe plunger Whenever desired, but it prevents an attendant from pressingon the plunger so as to :torce it up into engagement with a tile, itbeing understood that the lever cannot so act on the plunger as to moveit toward the Work placed between the head B and the pin c2 of theplunger.

The plunger C is provided with a plurality of teeth g, which form arack, the latter being exposed through the open side, d, of the boxingD. When a plungerI of cylindrical form is used, thel teeth g arecircular and extend entirely around the plunger or rack C, but it isevident that a polygonal sided plunger may be used, in Which case therack teeth may be formed on one face of the plunger'. Iprefer,fhovvever, to employ the cylindrical. plunger having the-circularrack teeth, because the plunger 'can be turned axially by hand, topresent other surfaces of the rack teeth in position for engagement by atoothed segment H,

thus enabling the parts to be adjusted in a Way to compensate for Wear.

It should be understood that, in the use of the machine, the plunger orrack C has a sliding movement normally in the boxing or housing; suchsliding movement being imparted thereto in one direction by the lspringE, and the lever F being used to move the plunger at will in the otherdirection. Under this mode of using Ythe machine, the indicatormechanism, except the Vpointer and thedial, are concealedr by a casing,L, but this casing mayberemoved from the bed A,'so that an attendant cangain access to the plunger C, for the purpose of adjusting' it, as byturning it axially by hand, to bring fresh surfaces of the rack teeth ginto engagement vvith the toothed segment H.

r1`he segment H is mounted loosely on a iixed post I, and around thispost is vcoiled a torsion spring, I', one end of Which is anchored onthe post, While the other end oi said spring is connected with thesegment, for the purpose of normally turning it toward the right orholding one tooth of the segment normally in engagement With one face ofa tooth g on the rack. This construction and arrangement takes up theslack between the teeth of the segment and able characters designatingthe sizes of the tiles, as for example, the spaces on the left of thestandard gage line S, have the characters A, L, XL, while the spacesonthe right of said gage line are inscribed with the characters B, C, D, Sand XS. The iirst mentioned group of three spaces indicate the tilesthat are larger in specified degrees or graduations, than the standardsize, while the last mentioned group 0f live spaces indicate speciiedgraduations of under sized tiles. The dial herein shown is graduated toindicate variations of a thirty second of an inch in tiles, the lengthsof which may slightly exceed, or be less than, the true size; yet theparticular graduation of the dial, and the scale of measurement securedby said dial and the machine as an entirety may be modified and changedwithin` wide limits. It should be understood, therefore, that the dialmay be marked to indicate as many oras few graduations of any and allsizes of tiles which it is desirable to measure; that the characters ordesignations employed on the dial may be changed' at pleasure, and thatthe dial may be graduated to measure variations in sixteenths of aninch, or sixty-fourths of an inch, or in fact any fractional part ofstandard measurement. The dial is shown as secured to the bed A, but itis evident that a dial graduated according to one scale may be replacedby other dials graduated to different scales.

rlhe several Working parts comprising the indicator mechanism, andcertain parts `of the plunger are inclosed within a casing L, the samebeing secured removably on the bed plate, said casing having anobservation slot mi, through which the dial K is exposed.

For the purpose of accurately adjusting the head or member B, I haveprovided an auxiliary adjusting contrivance which is adapted to befitted removably to the bed A, in a position to coperate with the headB. This device is shown by Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, and itconsists of a post N, having a foot piece, arranged to work in theguide-way of the base. On the post is itted a slidable member N, andsaid post has a threaded stem a, on which is screwed a clamping nut a,the latter being adapted to press the member N', upon thebed for thepurpose of clamping the adjusting devices detachably in place. The postN carries an adjusting screw O, which is adapted to engage with the headB, for the purpose of giving a minute accurate adjustment to the latter.

The operation of my invention may be described as follows: A gage Z ofthe standard size of any tile is employed preliminarily for adjustingthe cooperating members B, C, accurately to their working positions. Thehead B is moved on the bed to its approximate position, and the gage Zis placed on the bed between said head and the pin c2 of the member C,see F ig. l. The auxiliary adjusting device is now placed in positionand tightened by the nut n', after which the screw O is adjusted for thepurpose of moving the head B, the gage Z, the plunger C, and thepointer, until the latter moves to B on the dial in order to secure anexact working position of the parts. After this operation, the head B isclamped tightly in place by the screw b2, the auxiliary adjusting deviceis detached, and the gage block Z is removed, thus placing the machinein condition for use. The operator may now move the lever F to theright, so as to withdraw the plunger and increase the space between thepin 02 and the head B. A tile may now be dropped in place on the bedbetween said head and the pin, and by releasing the lever the spring Emoves the plunger until the pin c2 engages with the tile, whereby theadjustment of the plunger gages the pointer so as to indicate on thedial the size of the tile. rihe lever is now operated and the tileremoved and placed in a group or pile of the de termined size. Theseoperations are repeated with eachtile and the different sizes of tilesmay be quickly and rapidly assorted. To change the gage of the machinefor use on tiles of another size, the screw 722 is released, and thehead B adjusted lengthwise on the base A, the auxiliary adjusting deviceand the gage block Z of the required size being employed to accuratelydetermine the position of the head B. lt is evident that tiles of anysize within the capacity of the machine may be quickly and accuratelygaged by proper adjustment of the member B with relation to the memberC, and tiles of any length may be assorted according to their grade bythe use of the machine in the manner heretofore described.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have produced asimple, efiicient and accurate machine which may be used inascertaining` the variations or graduations in length of tiles belongingto a given size; and that the machine, by the simple adjustment of thehead or member B, can be adapted for use in connection with any llOother different size of tile to ascertain vthe variations or graduationsof tiles forming sub-divisions of the main group or class.

Although I have shown and described my machine as being especiallyadapted for the measurement and graduation of tiles, it should beunderstood that the machine can be used to advantage in the Work ofmeasuring other articles and grading them according to their sizes.

Changes in the form, size, proportion, and minor details inconstructionmay be made Without departing from the spirit of the invention orsacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and I, therefore, reserve theright to make such alterations and modifications as fairly fall Withinthe scope `of my invention as defined yby the annexed claims,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim anddesire to secure byLetters Patent is l. In a machine for assorting tiles according to theirsizes, the combination of a base having a surface upon which tiles areadapted to be placed, a tile-engaging member upon the base, said memberhaving an edge for engagement with one edge of a tile, and said edge ofthe member being substantially perpendicular to the tile-engagingsurface of the base, a plunger having a tile-engaging face positioned inopposing relation to said edge of the tile-engaging membensaid plungerbeing slidable relative to the tile-engaging Vsurfaces of the base andsaid member, means for retaining the plunger normally in a predeterminedposition relative to the edge of said member, and indicating meansincluding a pointer and a gear segment, lsaid plunger having circularteeth meshing with the gear segment and said plunger being rotatable forchanging the points of contact between its circular teeth and the teethof said gear segment.

2. In a tile measuring machine, a bed having a guide-channel, a headfitted to said channel, means for clamping the head laterally to thebed, a post fitted in the channel and clamped to the bed, an adjustingscrew carried by the post and adapted for engagement with the head, afreely-movable member slidable on the base and movable end- Wise vvithrespect to the head, and indicating means actuated by said slidablemember.

3. In a tile measuring machine, a bed having a guide channel, Wearplates attached to said bed parallel to said channel, a jaw fitted tothe channel and engaging with the Wear plates, a headed stem Working inthe channel and having means for clamping the javv to the bed and saidWear plates, a member cooperating with the jaw, and an indicatormechanism controllable by said member.

4. In a machine for assorting 'l'iles acc-ording to their sizes, thecombination of a bed having a plane surface upon which the tiles to bemeasured are adapted to be positioned, a tile-engaging member fixed onthe bed and provided with a tile-gaging straight edge positionedperpendicularly t0 said tile-en-' gaging surface, a slidable androtatable plunger provided With gear teeth` said plunger having atile-engaging face in opposing relation to said edgeV of the member, aspring coperating with the plunger for retaining it normally in apredetermined position relative to said edge of said member, meansoperable at Will for moving the plunger relative to said edge of themember, a pivoted gear segment meshing With the gear of the plunger, aspring acting on said gear segment for retaining one tooth thereof inmesh With a gear tooth of the plunger, and a pointer carried by the gearsegment.

5. In a machine for assorting tiles according to their sizes, thecombination of a bed having a plane tile-engaging surface, atileengag'ing member thereon, said member having a straight edgepositioned perpendicularly to the tile-engaging surface, a slidable androtatable plunger, one end of which is in opposing relation to the edgeof the tileengaging member, means for moving the plunger normally in onedirection, a lever disconnected from said plunger operable at will formoving the plunger in an opposite direction, said plunger being providedintermediate its endsvvith gear teeth, a toothed segment, a springacting on said segment to retain at least one 'tooth in mesh With thegear teeth of the plunger, and a pointer carried by the gear segment.

6. In a machine for assorting tiles according tortheir sizes, thecombination of a bed having a tile-engaging surface, a tile-engagingmember thereon, said member having a straight edge positionedperpendicularly to the tile-engaging surface, a plunger one end of whichis in opposing relation to the tileengaging member, said plunger havinggear teeth, a spring for normally moving the plunger in one direction, alever separate from the spring and disconnected from said plunger formoving the latter in an opposite direction, a gear segment meshing withthe gear teeth of the segment, and a pointer carried by the gearsegment, said plunger being rotatable, by hand, for the purpose ofchanging the line of contact of its teeth With the teeth of the gearsegment.

7 In a machine for assorting tiles according'to their sizes, thecombination of a bed having a tile-engaging surface, a tile-engagingmember thereon, a sliding plunger one end of which is in opposingrelation to said tile-engaging member, said plunger being provided WithVcircular gear teeth, a spring for normally moving theJ plunger in adirection toward, and to a predetermined position relative to, saidtile-engaging member, a hand lever free from direct connection With theplunger and operable to impart move ment to said plunger in an oppositedirection, e gear segment the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of saidplunger, a spring aeting on the gear segment, and a pointer earried bythe segment, said plunger being rotatable at will relative to the gearsegment for l0 changing the line of Contact of the teeth on said plungerwith the teeth of the gear segment.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

GEORGE A. STANBERY.

Witnesses:

CARNOTE F. LUMB, J. S. WHEELER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

